1 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA24 (FEIS) failed to discuss adequately the need for the CEC, 25 the alternative of no action, and the CEC's secondary ANN RILEY & ASSOCIATES, LTD. Court Reporters

1

1 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

2 NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

3

4 AFFIRMATION SESSION

5

6 PUBLIC MEETING

7

8 Nuclear Regulatory Commission

9 Room 1F-16

10 One White Flint, Bldg. 1

11 11555 Rockville Pike

12 Rockville, Maryland

13

14 Friday, April 3, 1998

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16 The Commission met in open session, pursuant to

17 notice, at 10:30 a.m., the Honorable SHIRLEY A. JACKSON,

18 Chairman of the Commission, presiding.

19 COMMISSIONERS PRESENT:

20 SHIRLEY A. JACKSON, Chairman of the Commission

21 GRETA J. DICUS, Member of the Commission

22 NILS J. DIAZ, Member of the Commission

23 EDWARD McGAFFIGAN, JR., Member of the Commission

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ANN RILEY & ASSOCIATES, LTD.Court Reporters

1250 I Street, N.W., Suite 300Washington, D.C. 20005

(202) 842-0034

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ALSO PRESENT FOR THE NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION:

ANNETTE VIETTI-COOK, Assistant Secretary

KAREN D. CYR, General Counsel



(202) 842-0034

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1 P R 0 C E E D I N G S

2 [10:30 a.m.]

3 CHAIRMAN JACKSON: Good morning, ladies and

4 gentlemen.

5 This is an Affirmation Session. We have two items

6 to come before us this morning. Before I ask the Assistant

7 Secretary to lead us through the items for affirmation, do

8 any of my colleagues have any opening comments they would

9 like to make?

10 [No response.]

11 CHAIRMAN JACKSON: If not, please proceed.

12 MS. VIETTI-COOK: The first item for affirmation

13 is SECY-98-024, Final Amendments to 10 CFR Parts 60, 72, 73,

14 74, and 75, "Physical Protection for Spent Nuclear Fuel and

15 High-Level Radioactive Waste."

16 This rulemaking provides amendments to 10 CFR

17 Parts 60, 72, 73, 74, and 75 to clarify and make consistent

18 physical protection requirements for independent storage of

19 spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste. All

20 Commissioners have voted to approve the publication and

21 implementation of these final amendments subject to the

22 changes and clarifications attached.

23 In addition, the staff should report when it will

24 be able to proceed with physical protection rulemaking for

25 Part 50 licensees who have ceased operations and are storing



(202) 842-0034

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1 the spent fuel in the pool, and who remain under the

2 physical protection requirements of 10 CFR 73.55 with

3 exemptions on a case by case basis. The staff should

4 explain the criteria for granting exemptions to 10 CFR 73.55

5 requirements in the interim period before the rulemaking is

6 completed.

7 Would you please affirm your votes?

8 CHAIRMAN JACKSON: Aye.

9 COMMISSIONER DIAZ: Aye.

10 COMMISSIONER DICUS: Aye.

11 COMMISSIONER McGAFFIGAN: Aye.

12 MS. VIETTI-COOK: The second item to come before

13 the Commission is SECY-98-021, Louisiana Energy Services,

14 Review of LBP-96-25 (NEPA Issues); Review of LBP-97-8

15 (Environmental Justice).

16 The Commission is being asked to act on an order

17 addressing the environmental questions raised in these two

18 Atomic Safety and Licensing Board (Board) decisions

19 regarding the proposed Claiborne Enrichment Center (CEC)

20 that Louisiana Energy Services (LES) plans to build near

21 Homer, Louisiana. The Commission granted these petitions

22 for review by LES and by the NRC staff to consider first the

23 issue of whether the Final Environmental Impact Statement

24 (FEIS) failed to discuss adequately the need for the CEC,

25 the alternative of no action, and the CEC's secondary



(202) 842-0034

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1 benefits, and second, whether the Final Environmental Impact

2 Statement failed to address adequately the "environmental

3 justice" issues.

4 The Commission (with all Commissioners agreeing

5 and one exception, as noted below) has voted to approve the

6 attached order affirming in part, reversing in part, and

7 remanding for further proceedings the Board's NEPA rulings

8 in LBP-96-25 and LBP-97-8. Specifically, the Memorandum and

9 Order affirms the Board's findings regarding the likely

10 price effects of the CEC but provides additional guidance to

11 the Board that in performing ultimate cost-benefit balancing

12 under NEPA, the Board must consider in addition to the price

13 effects, the other benefits of the CEC. It also affirms the

14 Board's decision to require the NRC staff to revise the

15 current FEIS "no action" discussion to reflect an evaluation

16 of both the costs and the benefits of not building the CEC

17 and to reconsider the Final Environmental Impact Statement's

18 current discussion of resumed logging. It reverses the

19 Board's decision to invalidate the Final Environmental

20 Impact Statement's reliance on the CEC's secondary benefits

21 and reverses the Board's decision to require a thorough NRC

22 inquiry into possible racial discrimination in the siting of

23 the CEC. It affirms the Board's decision that the NRC staff

24 should revise the Final Environmental Impact Statement to

25 provide more analysis of the CEC's effect on pedestrian



(202) 842-0034

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1 traffic between the nearby communities and to analyze local

2 property value effects more thoroughly.

3 Chairman Jackson disapproved only section 5.a of

4 the Commission order (with respect to LBP-97-8) titled,

5 "Racial Discrimination in Siting." She would have affirmed

6 in part and reversed in part the Board's requirement of a

7 further NRC staff investigation into the Claiborne

8 Enrichment Center siting. In light of the alleged

9 irregularities, gaps, and inconsistencies in the siting

10 process, it was her preference that the NRC staff should

11 further investigate the siting process without focusing on

12 LES's alleged intentional racial motives, to ensure that the

13 siting criteria were reasonable and applied equitably.

14 Would you please affirm your votes?

15 CHAIRMAN JACKSON: Aye.

16 COMMISSIONER DIAZ: Aye.

17 COMMISSIONER DICUS: Aye.

18 COMMISSIONER McGAFFIGAN: Aye.

19 MS. VIETTI-COOK: That's it.

20 CHAIRMAN JACKSON: Is there anything else to come

21 before us today?

22 MS. VIETTI-COOK: No.

23 CHAIRMAN JACKSON: If not, we are adjourned.

24 [Whereupon, at 10:37 a.m., the meeting was

25 concluded.]



(202) 842-0034

CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that the attached description of a meeting

of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission entitled:

TITLE OF MEETING:

PLACE OF MEETING:

DATE OF MEETING:

AFFIRMATION SESSION --

PUBLIC MEETING

Rockville, MD

Friday, April 3, 1998

was held as herein appears, is a true and accurate record of

the meeting, and that this is the original transcript thereof

taken stenographically by me, thereafter reduced to

typewriting by me or under the direction of the court

reporting company

Transcriber: k. t

Reporter: Mark Mahoney

UNITED STATES OF AMERICANUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

AFFIRMATION SESSION

PUBLIC MEETING

Nuclear Regulatory CommissionCommission Hearing Room11555 Rockville PikeRockville, Maryland

Thursday, April 16, 1998

The Commission met in open session, pursuant to notice, at 1:30 p.m.,

Shirley Ann Jackson, Chairman, presiding.

COMMISSIONERS PRESENT:

SHIRLEY ANN JACKSON, Chairman of the Commission

GRETA J. DICUS, Member of the Commission

NILS J. DIAZ, Member of the Comrhission

EDWARD McGAFFIGAN, JR., Member of the Commission


AFFIRMATION SESSION

PUBLIC MEETING








NILS J. DIAZ, Member of the Comrmission


2

STAFF AND PRESENTERS SEATED AT THE COMMISSION TABLE:

JOHN C. HOYLE, Secretary


3

DISCLAIMER

This is an unofficial transcript of a meeting of the United States Nuclear

Regulatory Commission on April 16, 1998 in the Commission's office at One White Flint

North, Rockville, Maryland. The meeting was open to public attendance and

observation. This transcript has not been reviewed, corrected or edited, and it may

contain inaccuracies.

The transcript is intended solely for general information purposes. As

provided by 10 CFR 9.103, it is not part of the formal or informal record of decision of

the matters discussed. Expressions of opinion in this transcript do not necessarily

reflect final determination or beliefs. No pleading or other paper may be filed with the

Commission in any proceeding as the result of, or addressed to, any statement or

argument contained herein, except as the Commission may authorize.

4

PROCEEDINGS

[1:30 p.m.]

MR. HOYLE: Chairman Jackson, Commissioners Dicus and McGaffigan

are now assembled. You may begin.

CHAIRMAN JACKSON: Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen. This is

an affirmation session. We do have one item to come before us this afternoon. Before

I ask the Secretary to lead us through the item for affirmation, do any of my colleagues

have any opening comments they would like to make?

(CHORUS OF "NOS".)

MR. HOYLE: None, Chairman Jackson.

CHAIRMAN JACKSON: Mr. Secretary, please proceed.

MR. HOYLE: Thank you. The paper before the Commission is SECY-98-

079 which concerns the Hydro Resources, Inc. proceeding. The Commission is being

asked to act on an Order granting a temporary stay of the Atomic Safety and Licensing

Board's Memorandum and Order, LBP-98-5, which was issued on April 2. In that

Order, the Presiding Officer denied petitioner's motion for a stay of staffs grant of a

materials license authorizing Hydro Resources to conduct an in situ leach mining and

milling operation. The effect of this Order before you now would be to stay the

effectiveness of Hydro Resources' license for a short period of time necessary for the

Commission to review and rule on both the petitioner's pending motion for a full stay

and their pending petition for review of LBP-98-5. Each of you has voted to approve

the Order granting the petitioner's request for a temporary stay pending the

5

Commission's review of the full stay motion and petition for review. At this time I would

like to call upon each of you individually to affirm your votes. Chairman Jackson?

CHAIRMAN JACKSON: Aye.

MR. HOYLE: Commissioner Dicus?

COMMISSIONER DICUS: Aye.

MR. HOYLE: Commissioner Diaz?

COMMISSIONER DIAZ: (no response)


COMMISSIONER DIAZ: (no response)

MR. HOYLE: Commissioner McGaffigan?

COMMISSIONER MCGAFFIGAN: Aye.

MR. HOYLE: Chairman Jackson, I have three votes so perhaps

Commissioner Diaz dropped off the line. I heard a beep as I was speaking.

CHAIRMAN JACKSON: Okay. We have a majority.

MR. HOYLE: We do, and he has previously ...

CHAIRMAN JACKSON: (unintelligible) Karen, can we ... (unintelligible)

KAREN CYR: We in the past have said that if he'd been present, he

would have voted to affirm and I think we can...

MR. HOYLE: He was asked if he fell off the line to hang up so the

operator could reconnect him. Perhaps they are trying to do that now.

CHAIRMAN JACKSON: Okay, perhaps we can wait a minute.

MR. HOYLE: Okay.

6

CHAIRMAN JACKSON: How are you?

COMMISSIONER MCGAFFIGAN: Fine.

COMMISSIONER DICUS: How are you?

KAREN CYR: How are you doing?

COMMISSIONER MCGAFFIGAN: What time is it in India?

CHAIRMAN JACKSON: It's getting pretty late, but I'm here.

COMMISSIONER MCGAFFIGAN: Is it midnight, or two in the morning?

MR. HOYLE: 10:30.

CHAIRMAN JACKSON: (unintelligible)

MR. HOYLE: They're making one more attempt to get him on the line.

COMMISSIONER MCGAFFIGAN: He's giving us a signal of some sort.

GARY ARMSTRONG: He did drop off and they are in fact trying to get

him reconnected right now.

MR. HOYLE: Okay. Thanks, Gary. He was using a cell phone, I

understand, whether that made any difference or not. This is certainly a first to have

not one but two Commissioners coming in by phone, and particularly, out of the

country.

COMMISSIONER MCGAFFIGAN: Do we still have Chairman Jackson?

CHAIRMAN JACKSON: I'm still here.

COMMISSIONER MCGAFFIGAN: We don't want to get him and then

lose you.

CHAIRMAN JACKSON: No, I think I'm going to be .... I'm hard-wired.

7

Richardson's

already done

MR. HOYLE: Do you have the monsoons with you over there?

CHAIRMAN JACKSON: No, the monsoon season doesn't start until June.

MR. HOYLE: June.

CHAIRMAN JACKSON: Very hot, though. Very hot.

COMMISSIONER MCGAFFIGAN: Does your path cross Ambassador

at any point? We understand he's in the country from the press reports.

CHAIRMAN JACKSON: (unintelligible)

COMMISSIONER MCGAFFIGAN: U.N. Ambassador Bill Richardson?

CHAIRMAN JACKSON: No, (unintelligible).

COMMISSIONER MCGAFFIGAN: Here he is, maybe?


COMMISSIONER DIAZ: Yes, I'm here.

MR. HOYLE: Okay.

COMMISSIONER DIAZ: Something happened -- I don't know what.

MR. HOYLE: Okay, sir. I ask you to affirm your vote. The others have

so.

COMMISSIONER DIAZ: Aye.

MR. HOYLE: Alright. That completes the voting. Chairman Jackson?

CHAIRMAN JACKSON: Is there anything else to come before us today?

MR. HOYLE: I have nothing more. Your colleagues have nothing.

COMMISSIONER MCGAFFIGAN: Have a good trip.

CHAIRMAN JACKSON: The meeting is adjourned.

8

MR. HOYLE: Thank you.

(CHORUS OF GOODBYES)

[Whereupon, at 1:37 p.m., the affirmation session was adjourned.]

9

CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that the attached description of a meeting of the U.S. Nuclear

Regulatory Commission entitled:

TITLE OF MEETING: Affirmation Session

(PUBLIC MEETING)

PLACE OF MEETING:

DATE OF MEETING:

Rockville, Maryland


was held as herein appears, is a true and accurate record of the meeting, and that this

is the original transcript thereof taken stenographically by me, thereafter reduced to

typewriting by me or under the direction of the court reporting company.

Transcriber: . i, /</LX.(

Reporter: (TAPE RECORDING)


AFFIRMATION SESSION

PUBLIC MEETING








NILS J. DIAZ, Member of the Commission


2

STAFF AND PRESENTERS SEATED AT THE COMMISSION TABLE:

JOHN C. HOYLE, Secretary


3

DISCLAIMER

This is an unofficial transcript of a meeting of the United States Nuclear

Regulatory Commission on April 30, 1998 in the Commission's office at One White Flint

North, Rockville, Maryland. The meeting was open to public attendance and

observation. This transcript has not been reviewed, corrected or edited, and it may

contain inaccuracies.

The transcript is intended solely for general information purposes. As

provided by 10 CFR 9.103, it is not part of the formal or informal record of decision of

the matters discussed. Expressions of opinion in this transcript do not necessarily

reflect final determination or beliefs. No pleading or other paper may be filed with the

Commission in any proceeding as the result of, or addressed to, any statement or

argument contained herein, except as the Commission may authorize.

4

PROCEEDINGS

[1:52 p.m.]

CHAIRMAN JACKSON: Good afternoon. This is an affirmation session.

We have three items to come before us this afternoon. Before I ask the Secretary to

lead us through the items for affirmation, do any of my colleagues have any opening

comments they wish to make? If not, Mr. Secretary, please proceed.

MR. HOYLE: Thank you, Chairman Jackson. The first paper is SECY-98-

040. This is a final rule regarding requirements for shipping packages used to transport

vitrified high level waste. This rule amends Part 71 of the Commission's regulations to

add vitrified high level waste contained in a sealed canister designed to maintain waste

containment during handling activities associated with transport to the forms of

plutonium which are exempt from the double containment packaging requirements for

transportation of plutonium. This amendment responds to a petition for rulemaking

submitted by the Department of Energy. All Commissioners have voted to approve the

publication and the implementation of this final rule. May I have you affirm your votes,

please?.





MR. HOYLE: Thank you. The second one is SECY-98-091 regarding

the Louisiana Energy Services case. The Commission is being asked to act on an

5

order responding to a motion by Louisiana Energy Services to withdraw its License

application to construct and operate the Claiborne Enrichment Center and to terminate

the proceeding. All of you have voted to approve an order granting the LES motion to

withdraw its license application and terminate this proceeding. This order will render all

remaining issues in this case moot. May I ask you to affirm your votes?





MR. HOYLE. Thank you. The third item is SECY-98-002A regarding the

International Uranium Case. The Commission is being asked to act on an order

responding to the challenge of three petitioners to the Presiding Officer's denial of

standing in LBP-97-12 and 97-14. The Commission has voted to approve an order that

I provided you this morning which affirms the decision of the Presiding Officer in these

two LBP orders to deny the standing of the petitioners. May I ask you to affirm your

votes, please?





MR. HOYLE: Thank you.

6

CHAIRMAN JACKSON: Mr. Secretary, is there anything else to come

before us this afternoon?

MR. HOYLE: There's nothing.

CHAIRMAN JACKSON: If not, we're adjourned. Thank you.

[Whereupon, at 1:58 p.m., the affirmation session was adjourned.]

7

CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that the attached

Regulatory Commission entitled:

TITLE OF MEETING:

PLACE OF MEETING:

DATE OF MEETING:

description of a meeting of the U.S. Nuclear

Affirmation Session

(PUBLIC MEETING)

Rockville, Maryland


was held as herein appears, is a true and accurate record of the meeting, and that this

is the original transcript thereof taken stenographically by me, thereafter reduced to

typewriting by me or under the direction of the court reporting company.

Transcriber: r:-____

Reporter: (TAPE RECORDING)

Documents

1 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA24 (FEIS) failed to discuss adequately the need for the CEC, 25 the alternative of no action, and the CEC's secondary ANN RILEY & ASSOCIATES, LTD. Court Reporters